Hat-covering.



W. GQ WETMORB.

HAT COVERING.-

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, 19 11. RENEWED my 2B, 1913.

Patented Jan. 6, 1914.

WILLARD c. WETMORE, or UPPER immune, ntiw sense-1'.

emaovemna.

Specification oi ietters Patent.

Patented J an. 6, ldd.

Application filed may 24, 1911, Serial No. easu'ak. itenewaiia 28, 1913.Serial no. 7703115.

To all whom it may concern: 7 v

Be itknown that I, WILLARD C.-WETM0RE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Upper Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hatfore isto provide a covering of the type in question which shall conform to theoutline of, for example, a straw hat, and which may be made of suchmaterials that when in place upon the hat, the covering will not beobjectionably noticeable.

A further object of my invention is to so form my protective covering asto adapt it to fit hats of various sizes, various widths of brim andheights of crown.

I further aim to provide a device of this "character which shall beadaptable for use with either stiff brimmed hats, or with hats the brimsof which are moderately flexible;

1 the device sufliciently conforming itself to the shape of such aflexible hat as subst'an-' tially not todistort the latter.

I further aim while providing a device possessed of these desirablecharacteristics, to form the same of such light and highly flexiblematerial that the covering maybe readily rolled up, or.folded, andplaced in the pocket of the user, and when so disposed, the saidcovering is. of such small bulk as not to materially bulge the pocket inwhich it reposes.

will be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out in theclaim appended hereto.

In the drawings which form a part hereof and in which like referencecharacters designate like parts throughout the several views: Figure 1shows a stifi' brimmed straw hat with my covering applied thereto, the

hat aiid covering being "artly broken away in order to better illustratethe construction of the covering. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary verticalsection taken substantially on the median line of-the covering inquestion.

Referring to-Fig. 1, the straw hat may be of the usual stifi' brimmedtype, as herein exemplified, and consists of the crown 1 and the brim 2,the hat 'being provided with the usual sweat band 3, if desired. Overthe outside of the hat is the rotectiv'e covering broadly designated-4,which consists in this exemplific'ation of my invention of a crownproper 5, preferably formed of thin and,

highly oiled silk, rubber treated linen, or highly oiled silk, rubbertreated linen, or the likewhich may be, if desired, and in fact,preferably is, of a yellow color. Secured to this crown is a fiat andpreferably broad band 6 of sheet rubber or the like, the essentialcharacteristic of this band being its f elasticity. The band in.question may be formed of that class of rubber sheeting known as dam.rubber. The protective crown-5 may be secured to this bandby a line ofstitching 7, or the like and the jointure may be cemented in addition.In'the form of device illustrated, the crown portion overlaps the upperedge of the band. correspondingly secured to the lower edge fof thisband as at 8 is the brim covering ortion of the device, which is adaptedto are bruptly away from the lower edge of the I and as shown in Fig.1', in order to conform to the usual fiat'brim of a hat of the type inquestion. This brim forming porthus formed extends a puckering' cord 12,These and other, objects of my invention preferably of elastic materialsuch as linen or cotton covered rubber cord, or the like, which holdsthe brim cover under proper tension when the latter is disposed aroundand over the brim of the hat.

By reason of the provision of the elastic band- 6, the protectivecovering as afwhole is adapted to neatly and snugly fit substantiallyany straw hat of normal size to which the covering may be applied. Ifthe diameter of the crown be of relative large size, the band isstretched lengthwise to conform thereto, and if the crown be relativelyhigh the band is adapted to stretch in the direction of its width. Thediameter of the crown portion 5 is referably made sufliciently large topermit of its edge overlapping the edge of any normally sized hat towhich it may be applied in the manner shown in Fig. 1. Obviously if thehat crown be of small diameter this overlapping will ingly held flat ifthe hat brim be a stiff one,

since the line of jointure of the elastic band 6 to the said brimcovering. portion will usually be disposed around the line of join-.ture of the hat brim and its crown; this disposition of the coveringparts being possible by reason of the fact that the brim coveringportion is inelastic, and the only tension placed thereupon being due tothe action of the light elastic cord 12, which as will be observed isdisposed upon the under side of the brim so that owing to the-bend ofthe material over the edge of the brim, no material tendency is exertedby this cord to pull the line of jointure 8 out of position. Then toothe gripping action of the broad elastic band 6 tends to hold all partsof the latter in place, so that even when under moderate tension, aswhen placed upon a relatively high crown and stretched in order to coverthe same, the line 8 may be disposed substantially at the line ofointure of the brim in the manner aforesai and, will there remain. Ifthe rubber band be of black rubber and the oiled silk be yellowv incolor, at a short'distance the covering, as a whole, is practicallyindistinguishable from the usual straw hat.

Even when placed upon a hat, the brim of'which is relativel flexible, myprotective covering does not 0 jectionably distort this brim and thecovering itself is, if constructed of the m'aterials above described,not 'at all unsightly.

I am aware that attempts have been made to provide coverings for strawhats, but to the best of m knowledge these coverings have been ma ethroughout of elastic material by reason of'which the same cannotconveniently be conformed properly to the hat; such coverings further,owin to the cost of rubber and like materials, being relativelyexpensive;'whereas the presentcoverin is decidedly inexpensive, theamount of ru ber used being small.

The rubber band in question may have the ends thereof convenientlyjoined together in any suitable manner as at 13, but I prefer to cementthe same with rubber cement or the like, which cement may also be usedin securing the oiled silk or like material to the rubber. It is obviousalso that the clastic puckering cord 12 permits the device to be affixedto hats having brims of various widths.

When not in use the device may be conveniently carried in a pocket orany other receptacle and occupies but little space. It hence possessesmany desirable characteristics, is exceedingly simple in constructionand possesses characteristics that have not heretofore been in evidencein devices of thi character.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim: 0

As a new article of manufacture, a hat covering comprising a broadannular band of elastic material adapted to tightly embrace and coverthe sides of the crown of the bat, an inelastic flexible portion securedto the upper edge of said band and adapted to cover the top of the hat,an inelastic flexible portion secured to the lower edge of said band,the free edge ofthe latter portion being adapted to be folded over theedge of the hat brim, and means for contracting said free edge, as andfor the urpose set forth.

In wit-ness'whereof, I su scribe my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses. WILLARD o. WETMORE.

Witnesses:

WALDO M. CHArIN', JAMES DANTomo.

